Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Nearly had a heart attack just now when I discovered that the NCTJ exam I have to sit in January is £72 (£36 for each part) and has to be handed in by cheque by Monday the 4th of December! Bloody hell. I have enough to do as it is. It all seems very strict and demanding of them. The only good thing I can see about this is that there's only one whole exam (albeit split into two parts), so I only have to revise for one subject. But still... it seems a bit of a pocketbleeder.

I've had a mildly productive day today. I had to get up early for the wonderful 9am lecture that is Media Law. Yet again on arriving, there was a barrage of handouts to pick up and go through. I don't think they will ever end! Every lecture I get another three or four handouts alone and I am left to wonder how many rainforests were destroyed in order to teach us to pass a single exam. Still, I know it's important stuff to learn and it could prevent me/the rest of us from getting into some serious trouble when we're out in the real world, doing whatever it is we want to do, concerning journalism and media etc.

After this, I went to the journalism office to pick up my test results from the third assessed test. I did considerably better than my first attempt- where I only scored a measly 13. I got 38 marks on my third test, which I'm really rather pleased about. You double the figure- so I got 76 marks so I'm guessing that counts as a first? I could be wrong, but I'm pleased that I did soo much better. That good news has even put me in the right frame of mind for revision later this evening. (As my next test is on Tuesday the 5th). So I'll have more fun topics to learn...such as the defamation law, absolute privilege, fair comment and qualfied privilege and all that shiz. Yay for me. Heh.

It was my dad's birthday yesterday, so I sent him a card in the post a few days beforehand hoping it would get to him on the right day. Nope...it arrives on the Saturday! Oh well, who says Royal Mail is in a state? That arrived very quickly. I'm getting him an extra present for Christmas which will make up for the lack of birthdayness presents received. So I'm hoping that will put a smile on his face.

I had another lecture at 2pm today. It was soo bloody boring. I tried to pay attention for half of it, but I kept on getting disinterested. Holly kept on trying to fall asleep. Hahaha. Once it was over, I made a beeline for the exit- but then realised- shit, more handouts to get! At least another two :/ Once I'd gone, I wanted to get some chocolate. The cravings are subsiding, but the addiction is still as strong as ever! hahaha. I ended up buying a flyte bar (sooo goood and like, half the calories!) and a bag of magic stars (both to suck on/chew whilst revising of course).

Although I ended up eating the chocolate whilst wrapping the christmas presents I've bought for people so far. I'm glad I've nearly finished my christmas shopping. It means I've got a hell of a lot less to worry about. I still have to buy for family though. Friends are sorted. So, I'm not all that organised as people may think :p

I got the Guardian newspaper for 25p today, with a free dvd of my choice and a packet of handmade crisps. I chose The Wicker Man. It's got something truly great about it.

Monday, November 27, 2006

I woke up this morning with a pounding headache. Not as bad as that of a hangover...but it did leave me feeling somewhat confused. I haven't drunk since early November! The only reason for it I can think of is that, I had some fiendish nightmares last night, or I ate my dinner too late. Prrrt.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

I've had the biggest Christmas shopping session ever today. It's been great. I've bought wrapping paper, christmas cards...and a couple of presents. I probably didn't buy as much as I thought I did- but it feels like it! I've bought a lot for my boyfriend :) so I hope he'll like them.

The good news is - I get to do it all over again tomorrow, when I go on the hunt for a few more elusive gifts for both my friends and Gary. I've decided I'm going to be doing a lot of baking too over the festive season, so as to cover for the fact that I didn't know what to buy for some people...so I'll just be making them cake and cookies and sticking a five pound note in their card, something like that. It's the thought that counts anyway, right??

Nevertheless, I have been soo tired this week. I don't know whether it's the weather or me, or a combination of both...but I do genuinely feel like a lazy crapbag most days now. I don't know how some of my housemates manage to go to the gym every day in the rain and cold weather. That sounds like hard work to me. Technically, I should be working out today- but the fact I feel like crap and completely dead may prevent me somewhat. Nevermind, I'll do it tomorrow.

My cravings for chocolate have been through the roof this week. Nothing but chocolate is good enough, it would seem...

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

It feels like ages since I last wrote in here.Quite a bit has happened.I finished the essay. Handed it in. 2,195 words- so just below the maximum word limit.I sent my article off to the Stiletto press. Although judging by the copy out today (I couldn't find it anywhere), I'll be lucky to actually own a copy of it. As it's not quite in the same way as The Steel Press.

Last week, Gary came up, which was ace. We went to see Final and Mono, both of whom I loved. But I left, ears brutalised, and I swear...some perforated ear drums. Corporation (rock club here) where they played, was shaking the sound was that loud! But not in the traditional sense, if you get me. It was the bass in Final as there is just one member - Justin Broadrick. Gary got to talk to him for a wee bit, which really pleased him I think :) he seemed really nice. I bought some merch. All Mono though.

Mono were beyond brilliant- but halfway through their set I had to leave and sit somewhere quieter as my back was hurting like mad, just from standing up for too long! Grrrr.

What else? Ohh, we went to see Saw III at the cinema on Wednesday night. That is one sick little film. Yet entertaining at the same time. I felt sick afterwards though- think I'd had too many revels :( (I always get like this with chocolate- the cravings have been crazy of late, I've been getting them every day).

I got to go to court on Wednesday afternoon. It was pretty interesting...surreal at the same time. I saw a lot of the defendants leaving/entering (yes, it is THAT obvious)...

On Thursday afternoon I went bowling and won three games out of three! Yeah, I rule. I also got some very sweet underwear that day and a garter belt which wouldn't stay up! :( Grrr. So I didn't wear them in the end, but I did go out to Fuzz looking pretty delightful :)

It was a great week though...I had such mega fun :D

It's Laura's birthday today. I got her a pretty present, which she liked. It was a box of bathing stuff from Lush. Really nice. Pricy, but I wasn't sure what to get her, I just knew she really liked Lush stuff.

We're having 'party food' later which should be fun.

But onto the plans for the week...I'm going home this weekend. To see my mammy and daddy. Gary...and to go to this christening on Sunday afternoon, for my baby cousin, Rose Ilona. She looks a sweet baby, but we never even knew she existed until we got the invitation two weeks ago! Heh. Still, it should be a nice occasion.

I'm getting to see Ghenghis Tron on Thursday :D yyayyy.

I'm tired now, had a long day.But at least it's good to know that I get the whole day off tomorrow.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Hello.

This weekend has been nothing but work for me. I wrote up my article yesterday. At least.I did a whole bunch of ironing which seemed never ending this afternoon.&...I'm about 800 words or so into the essay. So I'm not doing too bad, no?

Thursday, November 02, 2006

What could be the most scary thing to happen right now?That very thought has just crossed my mind.I reckon a giant black spider crawling up the wall to the left of where I'm lying now would freak me out. Especially if I carried on looking at my laptop and didn't realise until it was halfway up the wall. Eeep. I'm going to shut up now.

I'm hungover :( Well of slight. I got pissed pretty quickly last night and then it was off to Corp before I knew it. But bloody hell was it like the Marie Celeste. Normally, the place would be heaving with students clad in school uniform attire, sweat dripping from the walls as you struggle to make your way through the heaving masses to get to the bar. But not last night. It was empty when we got there and even when it did fill up, it was nothing like it was last year. Blame The Leadmill for opening a rival club night (another skool disco affair) and with it being Halloween the day before. I was ok for the first half of the night as I was still pretty drunk- so even when I realised I hadn't brought a tenner with me like I had previously thought, it gave me an excuse to sober up a bit and just dance. At least the drinks offers were fairly cheap - 70p for vodka and mixer. But then the night quickly turned pretty weird...

I got asked by some random guy some inaudible questions and it freaked me out, so I kept on moving about to try and avoid him. But he still kept on coming over :/ Then a friend got into some guy not once, not twice...I actually lost count of the number of times to be honest, as she just kept on getting off with him all evening. It was literally...dance dance dance...snog snog snog...dance dance dance....grind grind snog snog...all frickin' night. I gave up counting the number of times. Then I sobered up and got bored very quickly. I wanted to go home from about 1am onwards, but since all my friends were still enjoying themselves and such, I figured that I shouldn't spoil it for them. But school disco really isn't my forté.

The best bit was when some guy got his face smashed in with a bottle.No, really.There was drama and blood all over the dancefloor.The blood went all over people's white shirts.The ambulance were called.The guy's face was covered in blood, running all the way down his face and chest.I'd never seen anything like it before.I'd of been scared if I hadn't of been so tired.

Unfortunately, the tit that my mate had pulled was still hanging around. Urgh. &he followed us home in a taxi. Then he had no idea where he was. Gutted.I would've felt sorry for him, but he was one of those posh boarding school type sleazebags, if ever I saw one.Fed up, I went to bed.

I slept well...and now...I have to face writing an essay, or at least starting it, maybe even doing some reading. If I don't I could get really behind, as I don't want to do it next week, that will ruin all my plans. It's supposed to be 'Reading Week' next week, but I don't really get one, just some time off from a certain module to write this essay...grrr :/

But in better news, I'm writing an article for 'Stiletto' (a women's magazine here at the Uni, that was previously called 'Wanda'). I have to write an A-Z of Body Parts for about a fortnight's time. I've laid down the basic bones of the alphabet, but now I have to flesh it out with relevant material, making it light hearted, etc. I think I can do it. I'm gonna do it this weekend, along with some of my essay and see how far I can get. Should be interesting.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Me and a friend were talking today about how wrong it is for a guy to wear a pink shirt.It's not that we hate it, we just don't find it very attractive.It screams that a guy isn't very masculine, we concluded and therefore, if we went out with a guy who liked to wear pink t-shirts a lot, we'd want him to leave us alone.Just because.A girl wants a guy to look after her, but a pink t-shirt has too many implications.I don't actually know many girls who would be attracted to a guy wearing one. Infact, I think the whole idea of being attracted to ladyboys is on the wane.I think women want real men now.At last.Hmmm.

Well, on to more important matters...I got back to Sheffield yesterday, just in time for my Media Law exam at midday. I think it went surprisingly well, considering. I'm glad it's over- but just when I thought I could rest easy, in comes another batch of handouts from today's two lectures, covering the law on family proceedings, divorce and open justice. But the good news is, there's no Monday lectures anymore. Relief.

Halloween has been almost non-existant this year for me. The most 'spooky' thing I did all day was make myself a burnt chicken breast for dinner and some cheese and sweetcorn mash. With a touch of raw broccolli. Oh and a toffee apple for dessert (I had been looking for one all day, first in Sainsburys, but to much disappointment and then later in Metro Tesco, where I had slightly more success). But no trick or treating for me. The last time I did that, it was about...1995. No seriously...

The weekend was good. Aside from revision, I took the opportunity to talk to my parents and tell them all my news and things going on, etc etc. I spent two of the four nights at my parents house, two at Gary's. I'd say the highlight, was going for a chinese meal on Saturday night, we'd been drinking in Wetherspoons first and then it was just nice to sit down and eat something a bit special, because I don't normally eat a lot for dinner. I guess I just don't have the appetite like I used to. Ever since I've been working out three times a week, my old habits seem to be on the wane and I can't say I'm missing them to be honest. I've cut out coke, tea and coffee and well, just loads of high fat foods. I don't have takeaways anymore, never really ate chips anyway, but now I don't have as many processed foods either, or if I want something a bit fancy, like a pizza for example, I'll try and make it myself. It's healthier that way. I've also cut right back on the amount of alcohol I drink- I find I don't miss much of it. I tend to just drink spirits as they don't put as much weight on. But I'd say without a doubt, the exercise has been the main benefit of my changing physique.

Not that I was overweight or anything like that to start with, but I did need to tone up and do some exercise to improve my strength and stamina. I can feel the benefits now. I can't imagine going back to the way I was before- only a month or so ago. This may sound perverse, but it's a great feeling when all your old clothes hang off you and you realise with a sense of pride, that you've made it happen.